Title: Save Me
Author: Cathy aka kyleschick
Couple: Rory and Dean
Rating: PG-13
Summary: It's a new beginning for Rory as she and Paris open their own law firm. Rory begins to deal with this career change, Paris' nerve-wrecking antics and the complications when she gets her first case. Meanwhile, Dean finds himself coming to terms with a secret he's been ashamed of since we last saw him in Stars Hollow. How does he cope? Narcoleptics.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Gilmore Girls nor do I own John Grisham's The Rainmaker.
Author's Note: This fanfic was really influenced and is loosely based on the novel The Rainmaker by John Grisham and the song Amsterdam by Coldplay. Hope you guys like the fic, it's my first Narocleptics fic so please be kind.
Chapter 2: Warning Sign
[ Rory ]
Paris and I had finally graduated from law school and our office was beginning to look really good. I was sitting at my desk peacefully studying for the bar exam when Paris busted into the office, flinging the door open.
"I've got my first client!" cried Paris as she set down her briefcase with a slam onto my desk. I jumped from my chair, startled by the sudden outburst.
"A client?" I asked, a little surprised. I mean I knew that Paris was very persistent and usually never gives up when she wants something but it was kind of fast. It had only been a week since graduation and she already had a client.
"I was at the Connecticut Memorial Hospital and I found this man who just suffered a car crash. He was completely bandaged, a real wreck. So, I was in his hospital room and I questioned him on the accident and told him to stay away from his insurance company and then I promised a huge settlement." Said Paris proudly, as she took out some files.
"But Paris, you can't make a false promise like that, you haven't even had one case yet." I cried, putting down my textbook.
"Rory, I read his accident report, I went through all the procedures, and we'll be fine. His case is not that complicated." She assured me. I looked at her a little skeptical.
"Remember Rory, we have to sell our product. Give them some bait to reel in our first clients. Once we get those clients we'll be more experienced then we can start going at the big cases. I mean I was kind of hoping of starting off my career with one of those huge cases like one for those giant corporations but with my lack of experience I highly doubt that they'd hire me as one of their lawyers. So I guess we'll have to start with these measly cases." Said Paris, putting the new file in the filing cabinet. She smiled at the new file and I relaxed.
"Congratulations on your first client, Paris." I said, smiling warmly at her. Paris looked over at me and smiled too.
"Thanks Rory. Oh, I almost forgot, remember when we were talking about printing an advertisement for our law firm in the newspaper? Well, I sent this to the Hartford Herald this morning." Said Paris, running to her briefcase and pulling out a folder. She handed me a large piece of paper. I took it and read the advertisement. It was very professional looking with the words 'Gellar & Gilmore' at the top. It looked great.
"Paris, it's amazing, I can't believe you got the Hartford Herald to print it." I said, setting the paper down.
"I have my ways. Actually I ran into your grandfather and he pulled some strings." She said, and then she snapped her fingers, remembering something.
"That remind me, I should call Richard later to thank him," said Paris, as she went behind her desk and started pulling out more folders from her desk. "So, what have you bee doing all day?" she asked me.
"Studying for the bar," I replied as I got up to pour myself another cup of coffee.
"Yeah, I've been studying like mad all last night." Replied Paris. I looked at her more carefully and now noticed the bags under her eyes.
"Paris, did you sleep last night?" I asked, walking over to her desk.
"No, I had too much to do," she replied, not looking up from her papers.
"You should have slept Paris, you can't work yourself like this. You need to calm down, I mean we don't need clients yet." I told her. Paris shook her head.
"We need the clients, Rory. You didn't see the competition out at the hospital, I'm beginning to think we're behind." Cried Paris, frustrated.
"But this isn't healthy!" I cried. Paris continued to furiously write. I looked at her, shaking my head. When Paris was this determined, there was no stopping her.
"I'm going to go to the library and study, do you need anything?" I asked as I went to my desk to pick up my books. I didn't think I could study in there with Paris all tense like that.
"No, I don't need anything." She replied, still not looking up from her work.
"Ok, I'm going to go now," I said softly as I opened the office door.
"Hey, Rory, you know if you're going to go study, why don't you go to the hospital? I mean everyone there is already half dead, real quiet, you know?" suggested Paris, finally looking up from her desk. I looked at her, frowning.
"That was a little morbid." I said.
"I'm just saying you might find some clients while you're studying." Said Paris. I shrugged.
"Ok." I replied, shaking my head again. Paris was definitely going insane.
***
Curiously, I headed over to Connecticut Memorial Hospital to see the atmosphere and to find out whether or not there really were other lawyers chasing clients or if it was only Paris who was insane enough to pester these poor people. I walked into the somber hospital and looked around. The walls were painted a dull pale blue-green and a sterile smell traveled through the halls. There was an information desk in the main lobby and a gift shop near by. Suddenly I noticed the little cafeteria near the lobby, beside the waiting room. The cafeteria looked pretty decent, kind of like a café. I walked in the cafeteria and looked around, it was pretty empty with only a few patients sitting at random tables eating their meals. It was a perfect place to study. I walked over to the small steps that led to a little raised sitting area in the back. I set down my bag and books on the table in the corner and began my studying.
After an hour and a half of studying and a few cups of coffee, I looked up when I heard a sudden coughing on the lower sitting level. Sitting below me was a young man with dark brown hair, wearing only a hospital gown and his back towards me. He was sitting in a wheelchair and his arm was wrapped in white plaster, obviously broken or sprained. There was something so familiar about him but I shrugged it off and continued studying.
[ Dean ]
I sighed as I looked at the food in front of me. Hospital food. If only I was at home with a nice cooked meal instead of this plastic meatloaf and soggy Jello. I realize it had come to this, as I looked down at my bandaged arm and injured knee…
It all started when I married Lindsey, a few years ago after graduating high school. Our marriage had started out being like a storybook, two teenagers in love and married. At first everything had been fine, we both attended Connecticut State and we lived pretty happily. Taylor at Doose's Market promoted me to co-manager and Lindsey worked at the Chat Club. We earned a fair living and soon we rented an apartment and things were beginning to look bright for us. A few years into our marriage, I had to quit my job at Doose's to find something that was more stable to provide for Lindsey because I couldn't be a stock boy and co-manager at Doose's forever. So my dad's friend helped me get a job at an insurance agency and that's when everything changed. Lindsey and I had always been glued to the hip since we got married but with this new job it wasn't like she could drop in like she had when I worked at Doose's. Then Lindsey started getting these horrible headaches where she'd become really out of control and jealous. I remember once when she stopped by the agency and saw me talking to one of my female co-workers and when we got home she had the worst temper tantrum. She started throwing things around and began screaming at me. I apologized profusely until she calmed down. But as time passed, her headaches became worse and then she stopped throwing things around but started throwing things at me. I didn't know what to do. She would take my hockey stick and beat me until she would break down into a fit of tears. I wanted to get help for her but she refused… and now here I am sitting, bandaged in the cafeteria of a hospital, eating my dinner.
How did it come to this? Who would believe this? I guy as tall as I am being beat up and abused by his wife? At first I thought that I must have done something wrong to her, that's why she was so angry and hopefully it would all go away but things just became worse. I never even dared to fight back because living in my house with so many sisters, I knew never to hit a girl but in turn it is me who's getting hurt. But what could I do now? No one's going to believe my story, how could anyone believe a sweet girl like Lindsey would ever do this? No one.
I sat back in my wheelchair and pushed the lumpy meatloaf around on my plate with my fork, when a young woman with shoulder-length brown hair walked passed my table and went towards the counter to order a cup of coffee. There was something so familiar in her walk the way her slim shoulder curved when she swung her arms. I sat up straighter.
"Rory?" I called out; unsure if it could possibly be Rory Gilmore.
[ Rory ]
I heard my name and turned around to face the voice and my jaw-dropped.
"Dean?" I cried, dropping my empty paper coffee cup onto the floor. I quickly picked it up and approached him. It had been years since I'd seen him. The last time had been the summer of my first year at Yale.
"Dean, what are you doing here?" I asked, smiling then my smile faded when I looked at him more carefully. His brown hair was a mess, his face was tired and had some stubble and a bandage was fixed across his forehead. He sat on a wheelchair wearing only a hospital gown, his knee bandaged and his arm in a cast.
"Oh my gosh, what happened?" I asked, kneeling down beside him. He ran his fingers through his hair and let out a soft laugh.
"Oh, you know the sports and stuff. I got hurt playing hockey," he said gently shrugging.
"Does it hurt a lot?" I asked, concerned. It looked a little too severe to be just a sports injury but since I wasn't a sports fan, what did I know anyway?
"Wait, hockey injury? But it's summer," I asked, my brows furrowing.
"You know, indoor rinks?" he said with a chuckle. I laughed too.
"So, are you going to sit down or do you prefer hanging out with the dust on the floor?" he joked, pointing to the chair across from him.
"Actually the view from here's pretty interesting I said," I replied dusting my hands and clothes as I got up and sat down on the chair.
"So, wow, it's been a while hasn't it?" he asked, smiling at me. "Tell me everything that you've been doing lately." He said, as he pushed aside his plate of plastic looking food.
"Well, I just finished law school and Paris and I just opened our own law firm." I said, leaning on the table.
"Law school? What happened to your dreams about becoming a journalist? Wait, let me guess, Paris got you into this?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I did the journalism thing at the beginning but Paris kind of got me into law. I mean we I'm not really a lawyer yet because I haven't written the bar yet but I guess that's what I'm doing. I know it sounds crazy but I kind of like it. And it's not like I've completely abandoned journalism. I still want to travel and write but I'll do that later." I said. Dean smiled at me knowingly.
"You know, that's what I admire about you. You always have some direction and you're so sure about what you're doing and what you're going to do," he said, looking me in the eyes. I blushed.
"What about you? What have you been doing? I mean you're the one who has direction. At 18 you knew you wanted to get married." I exclaimed. Suddenly Dean's face clouded over and then he shrugged it off.
"It's kind of different from your ambition." He said softly. I looked at him carefully.
"Yeah, but you knew it was the right decision in your heart and I admire you for doing something so passionate as that." I replied. "So, are you still working at Doose's?"
"Oh no, I'm working at an insurance agency right now. Doose's just wasn't enough to provide for, you know, everything." He replied, looking away a little distant.
"I never thought of you as the insurance type but I guess we're all full of surprises. Maybe you should talk to my grandfather about it since he knows all about the business and stuff." I teased. Dean laughed.
"I'm sure he'd just love that," he said, rolling his eyes.
"Come on, grandpa was beginning to really like you after you expertly built me that car." I said, as I nudged his arm. Dean laughed.
"Yeah, we were beginning to become best friends," replied Dean with a chuckle.
It was so nice to see Dean after all this time; something so familiar and comforting about him but there was also something about him that was very different. He had this sad air that was ever present even when he laughed. This definitely was not there before.
[ Dean ]
Somehow, seeing Rory in front of me again made everything feel so surreal. I hadn't seen her for so long and here she was smiling at me and for once I felt like I had gone back into time and I was sixteen all over again without a care in the world. It had been difficult when we first broke up and the awkwardness of it all and then when she didn't come to my wedding it was a little hurtful but I've gotten over looked that. Now it felt like Rory and I had really become friends even though we hadn't seen each other for so long. Maybe this time away from each other gave us what we needed to grow up. It was nice to see our friendship at this level.
"Wow, it's 8:00PM, I better head back to the office and make sure Paris gets home and sleeps or else she'll do something drastic." Said Rory, as she got up from her chair. I looked up at her and smiled.
"It must be quite a adventure working with Paris," I laughed, then I looked over at the clock in the corner of the cafeteria, Rory was right, it was 8 o'clock. Lindsey was going to come and pick me up now. "So, umm, maybe you should hurry, Paris might worry that you've been gone so long," I said lamely. Rory looked at me then laughed.
"Paris isn't that caring, and why are you hustling me? You're acting like a boy who has sneaked his girlfriend in his bedroom." She joked as she picked up her empty cup and my dinner tray to dump into the garbage.
"Very funny," I said, pretending to laugh. If Lindsey saw Rory things might get ugly. From the start Lindsey had always been a little jealous of Rory even though I've been telling her that things between us were over. I wasn't sure if I wanted Rory to see Lindsey either, things would be too weird.
"Ok, I'm going. It was nice to see you again Dean," said Rory as she bent over to give me a hug. "Maybe you and Lindsey could come and visit me at the office…"
"Dean?" cried a voice. Speak of the devil, it was Lindsey and she was standing in front of us.
"Lindsey, you're here." I said weakly. Rory stood up and smiled sweetly at Lindsey.
"Hey Lindsey," she said cheerful as she walked over to Lindsey.
"Oh, umm… Rory," said Lindsey, looking at her suspiciously.
"I was just eating dinner and Rory was sitting over there studying and we kind of ran into each other." I said quickly to Lindsey. She tried to smile at Rory.
"Oh, well Dean you need to get to your room and rest." She replied, slightly pushing Rory aside to get to my wheelchair to wheel me towards my room.
"Umm… well, I'll see you guys later," said Rory, as she looked at us awkwardly.
"Bye," I said and Lindsey forcefully waved goodbye.
* Comment and replies would be greatly appreciated
